Two Questions:
- How do we make it easier for thoughtful politicians to move faster in the fight against climate change?
- How do we break the handcuffs that the fossil fuel industry has placed on our political system?
President Biden’s climate change legislation – the “Inflation Reduction Act” – was a big first step in the right direction. But it took an immense amount of struggle to get Biden’s climate agenda signed into law. And even then, Senator Joe Manchin still did his best to force poison pills into the deal.
If we want our government to move faster in the fight against climate change, we have to remove the obstacles that stand in the way.
That’s why Freedom Forward and allies are building a new campaign to break the power of Washington lobbyists who represent fossil fuel interests, including those who work for oil companies and oil dictators.
An Example of Success:
1. One year ago, we targeted Ed Newberry – a major Washington lobbyist who worked for Saudi Arabia’s oil dictatorship.
We joined with human rights organization DAWN to demand that Newberry and his firm drop their contract with the Saudi oil dictatorship office directly involved in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
2. Thousands of people signed onto our campaign and put pressure on lobbyist Ed Newberry’s office.
3. Members of Congress like Rep. Betty McCollum refused to meet with the oil dictator lobbyist.
4. Victory! Newberry dropped his oil dictator contract.
